- Adventure
- The Misfits collection
- Ages 8–12
The Misfits
Part of the collectionThe Misfits→Olive and the RASCH misfits pull off heist-busting capers that only work because none of them fit in anywhere else. Faster and twistier with each book.
- Books3
- Arcs1
- Span2024–2026
- StatusOngoing
The series
At a glance.
Lisa Yee and Dan Santat's illustrated caper series follows Olive Cobin Zang and the mismatched pupils of RASCH, an island art-school-turned-secret-academy for young crime-fighters. Across escalating adventures the team tangles with a master thief, a run of art heists tied to engineered earthquakes and a century-old shipwreck, and a corrupt tycoon holding a gentle sea monster captive. Each book is a self-contained caper, but the world, the crew and the running gags accumulate, so publication order rewards readers. Yee's wisecracking warmth and Santat's expressive artwork power stories about belonging and teamwork, where a squad who never fit in anywhere prove that looking out for the overlooked is exactly what they do best.
Olive and the RASCH misfits pull off heist-busting capers that only work because none of them fit in anywhere else. Faster and twistier with each book.
Primary themes
Overall tone
- Funny
- Exciting
- Adventurous
- Heartwarming
Publication order recommended — each caper stands alone, but the cast, world and running jokes build across the series.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- INarrative arcBooks 1–3 · 2024–2026Low sensitivity
The RASCH misfits
Olive and the RASCH crew take on escalating heist-busting capers.
The series arc follows Olive and her fellow RASCH misfits from their first caper, foiling a notorious thief while their school faces closure, through a twistier mystery of engineered earthquakes and a century-old shipwreck, to their most madcap job yet: rescuing a captured sea monster from a greedy mogul. Each book is a complete adventure, but the crew's bonds, the school's secrets and the running gags deepen across the three, so reading in order pays off. Fast, funny and warm, with Dan Santat's illustrations driving the action, it rewards readers who love piecing clues together alongside a team that only works because none of them belong anywhere else.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 8–12
- Read aloud · 7–11
- Independent · 8–12
Reluctant-reader friendliness
Very high
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Not especially
Sensitivity envelope
Low overall, and consistent.
Where it sits
In conversation with other series.
Similar in feel
Different shelves, same wavelength.
- The Mysterious Benedict Society →
About the author